U.S. patent number 3,942,147 [Application Number 05/520,145] was granted by the patent office on 1976-03-02 for magnetic boards and components.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Visual Planning Corporation. Invention is credited to Joseph Pollack Josephson.
United States Patent |
3,942,147 |
Josephson |
March 2, 1976 |
Magnetic boards and components
Abstract
A display device comprising a display board having an outwardly
facing surface, said board being of a ferromagnetic material, at
least one substrate strip, said substrate strip having permanent
magnetic properties comprising at least one pair of parallel spaced
apart north and south magnetic poles extending in one direction
thereof, at least one display unit having permanent magnetic
properties comprising at least one pair of spaced apart north and
south magnetic poles, said poles of said display unit being spaced
apart by a distance equal to a multiple of the spacing of the north
and south magnetic poles of the magnetic substrate strip. The
device permits the display of indicia or characters without
employing aligning means and also permits the placement of
information in any desired direction.
Inventors: |
Josephson; Joseph Pollack
(Montreal, CA) |
Assignee: |
Visual Planning Corporation
(Montreal, CA)
|
Family
ID: |
10458135 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/520,145 |
Filed: |
November 1, 1974 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Nov 2, 1973 [UK] |
|
|
50971/73 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
335/285; 335/303;
40/621 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09F
7/04 (20130101); H01F 7/0215 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G09F
7/04 (20060101); G09F 7/02 (20060101); H01F
7/02 (20060101); H01F 007/20 () |
Field of
Search: |
;335/285,302,303,306
;40/106.45,142A |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Harris; G.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: McFadden, Fincham & Co.
Claims
We claim:
1. A display device comprising a display board having an outwardly
facing surface, said board being of a ferromagnetic material and
having non-permanent magnetic properties, at least one flexible
substrate strip, said substrate strip having permanent magnetic
properties comprising at least one pair of parallel spaced apart
north and south magnetic poles extending in one direction thereof,
and at least one display unit having permanent magnetic properties
comprising at least one pair of spaced apart north and south
magnetic poles, said poles of said display unit being spaced apart
by a distance equal to a multiple of the spacing of the north and
south magnetic poles of the magnetic substrate strip.
2. The device of claim 1 comprising a plurality of said magnetic
substrate strips, each of said substrate strips having at least a
pair of spaced apart north and south magnetic poles.
3. The device of claim 2 wherein each of said substrate strips
comprises a plurality of pairs of equidistantly spaced apart north
and south magnetic poles.
4. The device of claim 1 wherein said substrate strip comprises a
plurality of parallel equally spaced apart alternating north and
south magnetic poles.
5. The device of claim 4 wherein said substrate strip comprises a
magnetic portion having said parallel spaced apart north and south
magnetic poles and a surface portion of a plastics material.
6. The device of claim 4 comprising a magnetic portion formed of
said plurality of parallel spaced apart alternating north and south
magnetic poles and a surface portion of a plastics material, each
pair of north and south magnetic poles being adjoined to an
adjacent pair of north and south magnetic poles by said plastics
material.
7. The device of claim 6 wherein said plastics material is
adhesively held to said magnetic portion.
8. The device of claim 1 including polarity identifying means on
said magnetic substrate strip, said polarity identifying means
being adapted to identify the polarity of one of said north and
south magnetic poles.
9. The device of claim 8 wherein said polarity identifying means
comprises means on one edge of said magnetic substrate strips.
10. The device of claim 9 wherein said means on the edge of said
substrate strip comprises a color-coded portion thereon.
11. A display device comprising a display board having an outwardly
facing surface, said being of a ferro-magnetic material and having
non-permanent magnetic properties, at least one substrate strip,
said substrate strip having permanent magnetic properties
comprising at least one pair of parallel spaced apart north and
south magnetic poles extending in one direction thereof, and at
least one display unit having permanent magnetic properties
comprising at least one pair of spaced apart north and south
magnetic poles, said poles of said display unit being spaced apart
by a distance equal to a multiple of the spacing of said north and
south magnetic poles of the magnetic substrate strip, said
substrate strip comprising a strip of magnetic material having a
pair of opposed major faces, one of said major faces having
relatively strong magnetic properties comprising at least a pair of
parallel spaced apart north and south magnetic poles, the other of
said major faces having relatively weak magnetic properties
comprising at least a pair of parallel spaced apart north and south
magnetic poles, said strong north magnetic pole on the one major
face being located substantially opposed to the relatively weak
south magnetic pole on the other major face, said relatively strong
south magnetic pole on the one major face being substantially
opposed to the relatively weak north magnetic pole on the other
major face.
12. The device of claim 1 including a plurality of said magnetic
display units, each of said magnetic display units having at least
one indicia on a surface thereof.
13. The device of claim 12 wherein each of said magnetic display
units comprises a magnetic portion and a further portion of a
plastics material, said further portion being secured to said
magnetic portion by adhesive means, said further portion carrying
at least one character thereon.
14. The device of claim 11 including a plurality of said display
units, each of said display units having a pair of opposed major
faces with one of said major faces having relatively strong
magnetic properties comprising at least a pair of spaced apart
north and south magnetic poles, the other of said major faces
having relatively weak magnetic properties comprising a pair of
spaced apart noth and south magnetic poles, the strong north
magnetic pole being substantially opposed to the weak south
magnetic pole, and the strong south pole being substantially
opposed to the weak north pole.
15. The device of claim 14 including a plurality of pairs of said
magnetic display units with the outwardly facing major faces of
said pairs of display units each carrying at least one indicia
thereon.
16. The device of claim 15 including polarity identifying means
associated with each of said display units.
17. The device of claim 14 wherein said major face of said magnetic
substrate strip having the relatively strong north and south
magnetic poles is juxtaposed to the outwardly facing surface of the
display board, the major face of the substrate strip having the
relatively weak north and south magnetic poles being juxtaposed to
the major face of the magnetic unit having the relatively weak
north and south magnetic poles.
18. The device of claim 14 wherein the major face of the magnetic
substrate strip having the relatively weak north and south magnetic
poles is juxtaposed to the surface of the display board, and the
major face of the magnetic display unit having the relatively
strong north and south magnetic poles is juxtaposed to the major
face of the substrate strip having the relatively strong north and
south magnetic poles.
19. The device of claim 14 wherein the major face of the magnetic
display unit having the relatively weak north and south magnetic
poles is juxtaposed to the major face of the magnetic substrate
strip having the relatively strong north and south magnetic
poles.
20. The device of claim 14 wherein the major face of the magnetic
display unit having the relatively strong north and south magnetic
poles is juxtaposed to the major face of the magnetic substrate
strip having the relatively weak north and south magnetic
poles.
21. The device of claim 1 wherein each of said magnetic substrate
strips is a longitudinally extending strip of a flexible magnetic
material.
22. The device of claim 11 wherein said substrate strip carries on
one of said major faces a plurality of indicia, said display unit
being adapted to selectively cover at least some of said indicia as
desired.
23. The device of claim 11 wherein each of said substrate strips
and display units comprise one pair of spaced apart north and south
magnetic poles.
Description
The invention relates to a display device and more particularly, a
magnetic board display device.
Display devices are commonly used to receive interchangeable
symbols such as numbers or letters of the alphabet, for use in
building directories, hotel signs, restaurant menus, sales and
promotion control charts, and are often used to record a particular
series of items of information over a period of time.
Initially, display devices generally comprised a board or like
receiving surface upon which were mounted the characters to be
shown or displayed. These boards or other receiving surfaces
employed a series of parallel grooves adapted to receive mating
lugs on the characters or indicia to be displayed which were held
therein by friction. Generally, such display devices have drawbacks
in that the grooves must be precision cut entailing substantial
expense and furthermore, these devices are limited in their use in
that the grooves ran in one direction only. Still further, the
continual insertion and removal of the characters eventually
necessitated replacement of the characters or display board when
they became worn and the friction was not sufficient to maintain
the proper placement of the indicia.
A further development on the art has provided for a display board
or surface having cooperating indicia held thereon by magnetic
means. In one embodiment, the display board has alternating spaced
apart lines of north and south magnetic polarity with the
characters or indicia being of a ferromagnetic material. In a
similar embodiment, the board or other display surface is of a
ferromagnetic material with the indicia being permanent magnets. In
the first instance, although the display characters or indicia are
capable of self alignment due to the alternating lines of magnetic
polarity, they may be mounted in one direction only on the display
or receiving surface. In the second instance wherein the board is
of a ferromagnetic material, in order to align the characters in a
straight line, a guiding edge or like means must be employed.
According to the present invention, there is provided a display
device including a display board on which information in the form
of various indicia may be mounted in any direction without the
necessity of employing a guiding edge; for example, horizontal,
vertical or diagonally. Furthermore, no wear is associated with the
components of the display device thus obviating the necessity for
frequent replacement of the components.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display
device comprising a display board having an outwardly facing
surface, said board being of a ferromagnetic material, at least one
substrate strip, said substrate strip having permanent magnetic
properties comprising at least one pair of parallel spaced apart
north and south magnetic poles extending in one direction thereof,
at least one display unit having permanent magnetic properties
comprising at least one pair of spaced apart north and south
magnetic poles, said poles of said display unit being spaced apart
by a distance equal to or a multiple of the spacing of the north
and south magnetic poles of the magnetic substrate strip.
In greater detail, the display board or surface adapted to receive
the magnetic substrate strips may be of any suitable ferromagnetic
material such as, for example, iron, steel, etc. The display board
may, in one embodiment, comprise a substantially rectangular board
commonly employed in many industries for the purpose of displaying
information. Generally, the term display board includes any board
or surface upon which the magnetic substrate strips of the present
invention may be placed, to this end, any suitable configuration
and design may be utilized.
The magnetic substrate strips, as aforementioned, are of a
permanent magnetic material and may include material such as iron,
steel, various resins -- in other words, any material capable of
forming a permanent magnet. Generally, the magnetic substrate
strips have a pair of opposed major planar faces, one of which has
at least one longitudinally extending line of a north magnetic
polarity and at least one longitudinally extending line of a south
magnetic polarity. The opposed major face will also have spaced
apart lines of north and south magnetic polarity; the south pole
being substantially opposed to the north pole on said one face
thereof, the south pole possessing relatively weak magnetic
properties compared to the magnetic properties of the opposed north
pole. Similarly, a line of north magnetic polarity will extend
along the other major face opposed to the south pole and will be
magnetically relatively weak compared to the strength of the south
pole.
The substrate magnetic strips may comprise any number of
alternating lines of polarity in pairs of the same -- i.e., a
single substrate strip may be defined as comprising at least one
strong longitudinally extending north magnetic pole and at least
one strong longitudinally extending south pole on one major face
thereof. Also, substrate strips having two or more pairs of
magnetic lines may be employed; it is preferred that the distance
between the spaced apart lines of magnetic polarity be
substantially equidistant. Preferably, the magnetic substrate
strips are formed of a material which is somewhat flexible and to
this end, certain resinous materials known to those skilled in the
art may be employed. The dimensions including the spacing of the
lines of magnetic polarity can be any conventional adapted for the
end use of the device.
In one embodiment of the invention, the magnetic substrate strips
may have polarity identifying means associated therewith -- i.e. a
single substrate strip having one line of north polarity and one
line of south polarity may have an edge of the strip with polarity
identifying means thereon which identify, for example, the edge
proximate the strong north pole. The identifying means may be any
suitable; in one embodiment, color may be employed for such
purposes. The polarity identifying means comprising the color-coded
strips may, for example, include a strip of a colored plastic
material upon one edge of the magnetic substrate strip.
Employing the above discussed embodiment of the magnetic substrate
strip, a plurality of such substrate strips may be juxtaposed to
each other in many different relationships. Thus, for example, one
substrate strip may be placed on top of a further substrate strip;
the weak south pole on one face will "adhere" to the strong north
pole on the juxtaposed face of the other substrate strip. In such
an embodiment, the polarity identifying means would be juxtaposed
to each other.
Furthermore, the strips may be placed opposed to each other whereby
the strong north pole of one strip is aligned with the strong south
pole of a further strip and the weaker poles of the strips are
outwardly facing to receive the magnetic character units and the
display surface.
Still further, the strips may be juxtaposed in a relationship such
that a weak south pole and a weak north pole are aligned to each
other with the strong south and north pole on the respective strips
outwardly facing for juxtaposition to the magnetic units and the
display surface. Thus, as may be seen, any combination of the
strong and weak poles may be employed depending on the
circumstances and results desired -- i.e. if a strong force is
desired between the display surface and the substrate strip, the
strong poles are juxtaposed thereto.
Even further, the magnetic substrate strips may be placed in a side
by side relationship such that no repulsive forces are encountered.
Still further, using the above embodiment, when one magnetic strip
is placed on a display surface of a ferromagnetic material, a
further magnetic strip may be abutted thereto in an end to end
relationship without experiencing any mutually repelling
forces.
It will be understood that the above embodiments have been
discussed with respect to one or a pair of magnetic strips; any
number of such strips may be employed.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the display
device also includes a plurality of magnetic display units adapted
to act in cooperation with the magnetic substrate strips. In one
embodiment, the magnetic units may be very similar to the
aforedescribed substrate strips in that they comprise strips of
magnetic material having alternating lines of parallel spaced apart
northsouth polarity. As such, the magnetic unit may have one pair
of opposed poles; alternatively, any number of spaced apart poles
may be employed with the spacing being generally equivalent to the
spacing of the poles of the substrate strips. Likewise, the
material forming the magnetic display units may be any suitable and
which is capable of exhibiting permanent magnetic properties --
i.e., steel, iron, various resins, etc. Also, the display units may
include polarity identifying means similar to those aforementioned
with respect to the substrate strips and may be of a material
forming a "flexible" unit.
The magnetic display units are adapted to display the desired
information and to this end, the magnetic units may include a
surface adapted to accept markings thereon. Alternatively, adhesive
means or other means may be provided to place the markings on the
magnetic units. Still further the magnetic display units may
comprise "double" display units in that they include a pair of
display units in a back to back relationship to each other with
each face carrying a character or marking means thereon. Still
further, the magnetic display units may carry further means for
accepting the desired indicia.
The magnetic display units need not be identical to the substrate
strips and thus, may include ceramic magnets or the like. Also, as
aforementioned, the alternating magnetic lines are spaced apart and
any one display unit may include a plurality of pairs of spaced
apart magnetic lines.
With the display device of the present invention, the substrate
strips may be placed on the display board or surface and adjustably
moved with respect thereto since the display surface is not of a
permanent magnetic nature. The display units are then held in an
aligned manner by the magnetic forces of attraction and may be
placed and slid along the substrate strips and easily removed.
Having thus generally described the invention, reference will be
made to the accompanying drawings illustrating various embodiments
thereof and in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a magnetic strip according to the
present invention;
FIG. 2 is an end view of the strip of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3A is an end view of a pair of magnetic strips of the present
invention arranged in one manner;
FIGS. 3B and 3C are similar views to that of FIG. 3A but showing
different arrangements of the magnetic strips of the present
invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a pair of magnetic strips of the
present invention aligned in an end to end relationship;
FIG. 4A is a section taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 4;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternate arrangement similar to
FIG. 4;
FIG. 5A is a section taken along the line 5--5 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a plurality of magnetic strips
placed on top of one another;
FIG. 7 is a section taken along the line 6--6 of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a magnetic assembly employing a
pair of magnetic strips of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a section taken along the line 8--8 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a view showing an alternate embodiment of the present
invention utilizing a plurality of magnetic strips;
FIG. 11 is a section taken along the line 10--10 of FIG. 10;
FIG. 12 is a view similar to that of FIG. 10 but showing a
different arrangement;
FIG. 13 is a section taken along the line 12--12 of FIG. 12;
FIG. 14 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention
using the "modular" concept;
FIG. 15 is a section taken along the line 14--14 of FIG. 14;
FIG. 16 is a view similar to that of FIG. 14 showing a still
further embodiment;
FIG. 17 is a section taken along the line 16--16 of FIG. 16;
FIG. 18 shows the front and back views of a ceramic magnet unit for
use in the present invention;
FIG. 19 is a view similar to FIG. 18 but with a different type of
ceramic magnetic unit;
FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a further arrangement of the
ceramic units of FIGS. 18 and 19 on a magnetic strip;
FIG. 21 is a section taken along the line 20--20 of FIG. 20;
FIG. 22 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. 23 is a section taken along the line 22--22 of FIG. 22;
FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a still alternate embodiment of
the present invention;
FIG. 25 is a section taken along the line 24--24 of FIG. 24;
FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. 27 is a section taken along the line 26--26 of FIG. 26;
FIG. 28 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the
present invention; and
FIG. 29 is a section taken along the line 28--28 of FIG. 28.
Referring now to the drawings, and in specific FIG. 1, there is
illustrated a flexible one-piece integral permanent magnetic
substrate strip designated by reference numeral 20, which may be of
a suitable material such as iron, steel, various resins, etc.
having a pair of relatively strong north poles 10, and a pair of
relatively strong south poles 15, running longitudinally in a
spaced apart parallel manner along one face 11 of the magnetic
substrate strip 20. Each of these poles is separated from an
adjacent pole of opposite polarity by a substantially equal
distance. Each north pole 10 has, on the opposed side 13 of the
magnetic substrate strip, a corresponding weaker south pole 16, and
conversely, each strong south pole 15 has a corresponding weaker
north pole 17 on the opposed side. Each of the weak poles are
substantially parallel and extend longitudinally in the same
direction as the stronger poles. There are also provided for, in
the present invention, means for identifying one of the strong
poles on the edge of the magnetic substrate strip, which in the
illustrated embodiment, comprises a color code 21 painted on the
plastic surface identifying the edge proximate the strong north
pole. The magnetic strip may be of any desired size and shape,
although generally rectangular shapes are preferred for most
usages. Although the magnetic strip as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2
consists of a pair of opposed poles, it may alternatively consist
of a single set of opposed poles or a plurality of opposed poles.
It is also within the scope of the present invention that each set
of opposed poles may be separated by some suitable identifying
means, if desired -- i.e. a ridge at the time formed within the
material. As will be seen from the drawings, each relatively strong
pole is represented by characters (N,S) with each relatively weak
pole represented by a smaller character (n,s). It will be
understood that the terms "relatively weak" and "relatively strong"
describe the relative strengths of their respective poles; the
absolute values may be any suitable.
Referring now to FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C, there is illustrated various
arrangements of the magnetic substrate strips of the present
invention as they may be placed on a display board (not shown). As
illustrated in these Figures, a pair of magnetic strips designated
by reference numerals 20 and 25 may be arranged whereby, as per
FIG. 3A, the relatively strong poles (10, 15) of each strip face
outwardly with the relatively weak poles (16, 17) being juxtaposed
to each other. In this manner, each of the polarity identifying
means 21 are located at opposed edges of the magnetic substrate
strips. In this embodiment, the faces of the substrate strips
having the relatively strong polarity are available for
juxtaposition to the display board and further magnetic units as
will be discussed in greater detail hereinafter. In other words,
the pair of substrate strips 20 and 25 are held together by
relatively weak magnetic forces.
An alternate arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 3B in which the
faces having the relatively strong poles (10, 15) are juxtaposed
together. As may be seen, a relatively strong attractive force
exists between the magnetic substrate strips with a relatively weak
magnetic force holding the substrate strips to a display board and
further display units (not shown). In this embodiment, the polarity
identifying means 21 are also at opposed edges.
In FIG. 3C, a still further arrangement is illustrated wherein the
polarity identifying means 21 of magnetic substrate strips 20 and
25 are at adjacent edges. In this embodiment, the relatively weak
poles (16, 17) of substrate strip 20 are juxtaposed to the
relatively strong poles (10, 15) of substrate strip 25. Thus, if
substrate strip 20 is placed on a suitable display board or
surface, the strong poles thereof will hold the same thereto.
In FIGS. 4 and 4A, there is illustrated an arrangement of the
magnetic substrate strips in an abutted end to end relationship, as
they may be located and placed on a display board or surface, such
as is made of steel or other suitable ferromagnetic material. The
display board, indicated generally be reference numeral 24,
preferably has a substantially planar surface to permit the
magnetic substrate strips 20 to lie in a substantially flat manner.
As is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 4A, abutted magnetic substrate
strips do not repel each other when used on ferromagnetic surfaces,
thus opening up many display possibilities.
In FIGS. 5 and 5A, a further arrangement of the magnetic substrate
strips according to the present invention is illustrated, in which
the alignment of the strong poles is illustrated in FIG. 5A.
Similar reference numerals identifying similar parts to those
previously described are employed; in this case, the display
surface again is of a ferromagnetic material, and the use of the
substrate strips of the present invention permits butted magnets
which do not repel each other when used on such surfaces.
In FIGS. 6 and 7, there is illustrated, again according to the
present invention, how a plurality of magnetic substrate strips
indicated generally by reference numerals 20, 30 and 40, may be
placed on top of one another or in juxtaposition with each other,
with the color-coded edges always being placed in the same relative
position so that a strong north pole is always aligned with a weak
south pole. This permits symmetrical stacking of a plurality of
magnetic substrate strips of the present invention on a
ferromagnetic surface 24 for display or stacking purposes.
Referring now to FIGS. 8 and 9, these drawings illustrate the
magnetic alignment in a strong/weak fashion wherein magnetic
display units are employed on top of the magnetic substrate strips.
More specifically, a magnetic substrate strip 20 is placed on a
suitable ferromagnetic surface 24 and a magnetic display unit 50 is
placed on top thereof with the polarity identifying means 31 of
display unit 50 being juxtaposed to the polarity identifying means
of the substrate strip 20. In this manner, display unit 50 may be
moved along the track formed by substrate strip 20 and will always
be aligned with the same due to the magnetic forces.
In FIGS. 10 and 11, a similar arrangement to that described with
respect to FIGS. 8 and 9 is illustrated, but in this case, a pair
of smaller magnetic units 50a and 50b are employed on substrate
strip 20 to form and permit aligned motion in a "double track"
manner. Thus, by arranging the magnetic display units to have the
polar arrangement illustrated in FIG. 11, each of the units 50a and
50b may be moved as desired independently along substrate strip
20.
FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate a similar version to that described with
respect to FIGS. 11 and 12, but in this case, the magnetic strips
have a different construction. More specifically, as illustrated in
FIG. 13, the magnetic substrate strip 20 and display units 50a, 50b
and 50c described with respect to the previous Figures include an
adhesive layer of any suitable adhesive indicated generally by
reference numeral 42, which secures to the front, a non-magnetic
layer such as may be provided by a plastic material, and which is
indicated generally by reference numeral 46. As shown in FIG. 12,
the plastic materials may be color-coded, or carry other indicia or
messages, for display purposes. Thus, the arrangement of FIGS. 12
and 13 permits displaying information while at the same time,
providing for convering the information as desired, exposing
selected information as desired, adding information by virtue of
adding one or more magnetic display units as desired, and moving
information on a display board. The arrangement of FIGS. 12 and 13,
as with FIGS. 10 and 11, is preferably mounted on a suitable steel
or other ferromagnetic surface 24. Further, as will be noted from
this arrangement as illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13, the arrangement
permits aligned motion on the "double" track basis.
Referring now to FIGS. 14 and 15, there is illustrated a further
embodiment of the present invention which provides for aligned
motion using a "modular" build up arrangement. Thus, in this
embodiment, there is provided a first magnetic substrate strip 20
of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1 et seq., and a plurality of
further magnetic modular or display units 50a, 50b. These modular
units 50 are similar in construction to those indicated by
reference numerals 50a and 50b in FIG. 12. The magnetic substrate
strip 20 is suitably mounted on a display surface 24.
By using the modular build up arrangement as illustrated in FIGS.
14 and 15, each modular unit 50 may be moved as desired as
indicated by the arrows in this Figure and they may be interchanged
to illustrate various types of messages or displays as desired.
Referring now to FIGS. 16 and 17, there is illustrated a further
arrangement utilizing generally the same type of magnetic strips
illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15. In this embodiment, however, a
different front layer 60, carrying indicia or other symbols or the
like, is mounted by means of the adhesive 42 to the modular
magnetic display units indicated generally by reference numeral 50,
thus giving a different variation from that illustrated in FIGS. 14
and 15.
Referring now to FIGS. 18 and 19, there is shown the front and rear
views of ceramic magnets of different configurations, in which the
front of the ceramic magnets indicated generally by reference
numeral 70 has the strong north and south poles, while the back
portion indicated generally by reference numeral 72 has the weak
south and north poles. Such ceramic magnets, for use within the
present invention, may have any desired shape and/or size. In use
of the magnets of FIGS. 18 and 19, as illustrated in FIGS. 20 and
21, such magnets may be mounted on a magnetic substrate strip of
the type previously described and as indicated by reference numeral
20. These ceramic magnets may carry indicia or other suitable
advertising/display material, and as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, they
may be moved to permit aligned motion on the substrate strip 20. In
turn, the substrate strip 20 is mounted on a display surface
24.
In FIGS. 22 and 23, a modification of the present invention is
illustrated in which a substrate strip 20 includes a layer of
adhesive 42 with the strong north and strong south poles being
mounted as indicated. Preferably, in this type of embodiment, the
magnetic substrate strip 20, is adhesively secured to a suitable
substrate which may be of a ferromagnetic or non-magnetic material
by virtue of the adhesive 42; the other modular magnetic unit
indicated generally by reference numeral 50 is provided with an
adhesive 42 on its outer surface securing thereto a further display
means 80. This further display surface may have various different
configurations and shapes; a preferred one is illustrated in which
the display means 80 comprises a rubber or like backing material
grooved or otherwise recessed to receive characters, or other
display or indicia (such as letters as indicated by the dotted
lines and by reference numeral 82) which include a projecting
mating member 84 adapted to fit within the groove.
A modification of the above arrangement is illustrated in FIGS. 24
and 25, in which there is secured to the outer surface of modular
magnetic unit 50, a different type of display means which is
indicated generally by reference numeral 88. In this case, the
display unit forms a supporting surface adapted to receive
lettering or other indicia -- the display means has a generally
planar configuration with a pair of opposed "U-shaped" channels 90
adapted to receive upper and lower portions of display cards 91, in
the manner illustrated by the dotted lines in FIGS. 24 and 25. This
particular arrangement is highly advantageous for name channel
applications, or other similar usages.
Referring now to FIGS. 26 and 27, a further embodiment of the
present invention is illustrated in which again, a substrate strip
and display unit are secured to a suitable display board 24.
Similar reference numerals are used to designate similar parts to
those parts described with respect to previous FIGS. In this
embodiment, the display unit is provided with a layer of adhesive
42, to which is secured any desired item such as may be used on
occasion for various purposes. A T square 93 is illustrated in
FIGS. 26 and 27 as being fixedly secured to the display unit and,
when it is desired to use the same, the display unit is merely
separated from the magnetic substrate strip whereby the T square
may be used and then returned for storage purposes. It will be
appreciated that within the context of this embodiment, many other
articles may be similarly mounted, where it is required to display
or store such articles when not in use.
Referring now to FIGS. 28 and 29, a modified arrangement showing a
weak-to-weak polar relationship of a pair of magnetic display units
is illustrated. Specifically, a display board surface, which may be
ferromagnetic or non-magnetic, indicated generally by reference
numeral 24, is employed to which there is secured, by means of
adhesive 42, a magnetic substrate strip indicated generally by
reference numeral 20. In turn, there may also be included, if
desired, an outer covering layer such as the plastic layers 46, to
the other face thereof. A first modular display unit 50a, is
provided which again may be provided with an outer plastic layer 46
secured by means of adhesive 42. Thus magnetic substrate strip 20
and unit 50a are separable. Secured to the unit 50a, by means of an
adhesive layer 42, is a further magnetic display unit 50b, which
may also include a surface of a plastic layer 46 or the like,
secured by means of an adhesive. The units 50a and 50b are thus
secured to each other and these may or may not be of the same size
and shape as the magnetic substrate strip 20. As illustrated in
FIG. 28, the modular concept has been employed for units 50a and
50b. FIG. 28 further illustrates an embodiment of the invention
wherein the units 50a and 50b may be changed whereby the back face
may become the front face by reversing the modular units 50a and/or
50b as desired. By virtue of the arrangement illustrated in FIGS.
28 and 29, there are provided double sided magnetic units
positioned in such a manner that the color-coded edges 31 are never
butted, thus ensuring correct placement of either face for double
magnetic alignment for display or other similar purposes.
It will be understood that various changes and modifications may be
made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the
spirit and scope of the invention which is not limited to these
embodiments, but rather by the claims appended hereto.
* * * * *